Flower For a Princess
by BlowTorchChan
Summary: A princess in danger, and only Sakura can save her! But, can she become a strong enough ninja to do the job? The Leaf genins will have to help her, and Sasuke and Naruto will learn to respect her... possibly learning to love her in the progress.


Flower For A Princess

Chapter One: An Assignment Only You Can Do!

Disclaimer: This is yet another thing I will start but can't guarantee I will finish in a timely fashion. Having said that, you should know there are only ten chapters, and they are all already summarized so maybe that will help me finish it. Also, I'm not the best writer, so I'm apologizing in advance. ;

I wrote this fanfic because I was tired of Sakura, yet somehow I loved her. I want her to be cool. They keep writing her cool, and then leaving her out there with no motive at all. I'm tired of it, so this is my reaction.

This fanfic happens exactly after episode 101. (Basically, I'm replacing the Tea Country mission.) I tried to fit it neatly into the time line, but there are still some sticky parts. If you haven't gotten that far, I only really spoil what happened to Gaara in the tournament.

One final note: They _do_ have technology in Naruto's world. There's a TV in the Uchiha living room, and cameras show up once in awhile.

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Since his recovery at the hospital, Sakura made a habit of making lunch for Sasuke every day. It occurred to her that other girls might laugh at her for doing this. Who wants to spend an hour or two each day painstaking folding sushi, packing rice into rice balls, and cooking noodles for someone who couldn't care less?

Sakura thought about that, but to her the situation felt quite different. You see, every day Sasuke's reaction had been changing, just a little. At first he wouldn't even open the door when she knocked. Then he would let her in, but not say anything. Then, he would mutter "Thank you" to her before leaving stranded at the doorway while he ate.

And that was what kept her doing this. Of all of the missions they had shared, the times she had worried about him and even cried over him, his reaction had been the same towards her. This was the one time in which her actions were repeated in the same manner every day, and his became slightly more warm.

She wasn't sure about the reason. When she was feeling egotistical, she wondered if her near death during the tournament had awoken some sort of feeling in him. On other days, she had no explanation at all. But whatever the reason, it was definitely happening. Sasuke was starting to accept her.

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On the day that Sakura's mission began, she remembered his reaction very clearly. In a bit of daring she had added extra flair to today's meal, cutting the vegetables into little leaves and Uchiha fans.

Sasuke had opened the box, and his first reaction was a "hmmph" and a smile. He looked right into her eyes, and said one word.

"Cute."

He began to eat them as if it was any other day. Sakura did not react, only stared at him blankly. She was unable to function.

Her entire body was singing. Sasuke had thought she was cute.

Some hours later, Sakura was summoned to a meeting in Konoha's main building.

The discussion room she entered was large, but only a few people were in attendance and all of them were known to her. At the head of one table was her mentor, Kakashi, looking as unreadable as ever. On his left side sat Naruto. Sakura was momentarily amused by Naruto's expression; he was clearly excited that a new mission was most likely heading their way. On Kakashi's right, Sasuke sat quietly. He did not look at her when she came in.

Sitting beside Naruto, to Sakura's surprise, was Hinata. A small tinge of worry fluttered in Sakura's chest. A mission that required involvement with more than one team was probably very difficult.

Next to Sasuke was Kiba. Sakura did not know Kiba well, but at the moment she could read his face easily. He was not wearing his usual confident smile.

The table they had chosen to sit at was actually rather small, so Sakura ended up sitting at the end of the table opposite Kakashi.

"I'm sorry if I kept you from starting, Sensei," she muttered as she sat down. (How embarrassing! Inner Sakura raged.)

"It's alright, Sakura. We needed you before we could start." He sounded more worried then usual, and that concern made her heart pound a little harder.

Difficult missions always made her nervous. She could never keep up with the other two, and always ended up feeling useless. Her mind began to rationalize however: how difficult could it be if they needed her?

"Hinata and Kiba had been sent on a mission earlier this week. Their mission now includes a mission for us. I have already been briefed as to the requirements, and now the three of you need to know what's going on as well."

Hinata looked expectantly at Kiba, but he folded his arms and looked back. "You tell them about it. I'm just the scout boy."

She looked around the table nervously, and began, her voice small and careful.

"Kiba... Kiba and I were asked to go on a stealth mission to the Waterfall country for a secret assignment. We were to meet with the lord of Waterfall and report back here what we had learned, as well as recruit whatever Konoha ninjas we could to this cause.

"We succeeded in this first part. The lord of Wind and the lord of Waterfall apparently have a bitter rivalry. Due to some political treachery, the princess of Waterfall has been betrothed to the prince of Wind. However, spies have confirmed that once the princess Takara enters the country of Wind she will be murdered in revenge."

Sakura wondered where this was going. A bodyguard mission?

"A decoy will go in her place. Kiba and I will pretend to be bodyguards in case anyone witnessed our trip to the country. Meanwhile, the rest of the team will be in place to gather photographic evidence of Wind's betrayal. After conferring this to the Hokage, she assigned Team 7 to the mission."

Hinata finished quietly, blushing. Kakashi had already gotten out some paperwork, and was shifting it around.

"So that's the mission, gang. There is no easy way to say this, but we are dealing with an A-rank mission. In the unlikely possibility that other ninjas are involved, it will become an S-rank mission."

"And," he took a deep breath, "it is very likely that our decoy will be injured, if not killed."

There was silence in the room. In that silence, Sakura stood up, her face cast downward. She had placed both hands on the table in what appeared to be defiance; in reality, she was afraid she might start shaking.

"Sensei," she asked, her mouth firm, "am I the decoy?"

He closed his eyes. "Yes. You are the decoy."

Internally, she raged. Why her? She hated to admit it, but of all the female ninjas out there, she was not the likely candidate to play a princess. Why not Tenten, who was older and a better fighter? Why not Hinata, who had actually BEEN a part of royalty within her family?! Why not... why not Ino? Her heart skipped ahead a little. Ino would have a better chance. She was a good ninja, but also good at acting proper. Sakura considered herself far from delicate.

"There must be someone else who is more qualified. Sensei, I-"

"She's not strong enough to do it."

Her head snapped forward. Sasuke had also stood up, but his face was towards Kakashi. She couldn't tell by her voice whether he was being insulting or protective.

"I understand your concerns, and in peace time we would have never asked you to do this. But there is no one else. This requires a transformation that would have to be present around the clock; no male could do this reliably. All of our high level female ninjas are in different missions. We are allies with the country of Waterfall, but given our current situation we can only offer our genin ninjas to help."

"But still, why me? Surely one of the other girls would be more fitting in this situ-"

He had taken out a photograph and placed it in front of her. It was of a young girl. She couldn't have been older than ten. Her face looked innocent and sweet, a halo of pale pink hair delicately styled around her.

But the young girl's beauty was not what calmed Sakura down. It was the resemblance to her own face that made her realize why she had been chosen.

She looked up at Kakashi, and he looked back at her. "As you can see, Sakura, you are the only girl for the job. It is asking a lot for you to put your life on the line for another person. But you are the only one who can do it."

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NEXT CHAPTER: "Naruto Understands! The Young Men of Team 7 Will Not Let Her Go!


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